NBC-owned Spanish-language US broadcaster Telemundo has acquired the rights to European soccer’s continental UEFA club competitions for the next media rights cycle, bolstering its soccer portfolio.
Covering the 2027-2030 cycle, this agreement will see Telemundo take up the rights to UEFA’s range of international club competitions, including the elite UEFA Champions League (UCL), second-tier Europa League, the third-tier Conference League, and the youth-category UEFA Youth League (as well as the relevant editions of the season-opening UEFA Super Cup each year).
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Sportcal understands that the media rights fee for this agreement represents a 40% uplift on the fee relating to the previous cycle, which ends with the upcoming 2026-27 season.
Currently, Spanish-language Champions League rights in the US are held by global sports streaming platform DAZN, which struck a deal with original rights-holder TelevisaUnivision in mid-2025.
Upon taking up the rights after this season, NBC will disseminate Spanish-language coverage of these competitions through its range of platforms, including the Telemundo and Universo linear networks, the Peacock OTT streaming service, and Telemundo’s sports-focused FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channel, Telemundo Deportes Ahora.
Game broadcasts will be supported by pre- and post-match shoulder content, ancillary programming, and similar supporting digital-focused coverage.
The tender process, launched back in May, was managed by agency Relevent Football Partners and UC3, the joint venture between UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA) that controls the marketing, sales, and delivery of commercial rights for the club competitions.
This deal will run through the end of the 2029-30 season, which coincides with the end of the English-language rights deal in the market, also a six-year deal with Paramount and its CBS network.
In dealing with the rights to an NBC property, Relevent and UC3 have created a potential bidding war for rights in 2030, with Paramount and NBC both possessing the option to take up full exclusive rights spanning both English- and Spanish-language coverage from 2030-31 onwards.
Speaking on the announcement, UEFA president and UC3 chair Aleksander Čeferin said: “This agreement with Telemundo reflects both the strength of our competitions and the passion of Spanish-speaking fans in the United States. We look forward to working together to deliver unforgettable moments and bring the drama, excitement and excellence of European football to millions of viewers over the next cycle.”
In terms of US interest in the UEFA competitions, several high-profile US national team players compete regularly in the competition, including Johnny Cardoso of Atletico Madrid, Yunus Musah from Atalanta, Malik Tillman of Bayer Leverkusen, and Weston McKennie from Italian giants Juventus, all of whom played in the UEFA Champions League 2025-26.
Much of the Spanish-language community in the US (and indeed the audience for Telemundo) stems from the country’s large Mexican diaspora, which accounts for as much as 11.2% of the population and close to 60% of all Hispanic US citizens.
This consumer segment will also be significantly serviced through the agreement, with access to Mexico national team players such as Obed Vargas of Atletico Madrid, Alvaro Fidalgo of Real Betis, Santiago Gimenez of AC Milan, and Rodrigo Huescas of FC Copenhagen.
The announcement of this agreement comes just days after Telemundo also secured the rights to German soccer’s domestic Bundesliga on a three-year basis, and follows a successful FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign that saw it post strong viewership gains.
Beyond the Bundesliga and now the UEFA club competitions, Telemundo’s soccer portfolio also includes the English Premier League, US men’s and women’s national teams, Los Angeles 2028 Olympic soccer, and Mexico’s top-flight Liga MX coverage from major clubs CD Guadalajara, FC Juárez, and Tigres UANL (clubs in Liga MX sell international rights to their home games individually).
